海角大神

Where do bullies come from? Questions raised by 'Brony' battles

Where do 'Bronies' come from? What do they represent? How can we educate kids and adults about the cultural influence that is creating a community shooting down stereotypes? 

The story of Grayson Bruce, age 9, being bullied for liking the cartoon 鈥�My Little Pony鈥� made headlines, and drew attention to the missteps taken by his school. Now, let鈥檚 take a look at the 鈥渘erd鈥� and 鈥渉ipster鈥� cultures behind the rainbow culture phenomenon.

Grayson鈥檚 mom Noreen Bruce says the principal of Grayson鈥檚 elementary school told her the solution was for her son to leave his 鈥淢y Little Pony鈥� backpack at home, based on the theory that, by wearing it, he was advertising his passion for a show marketed to girls and creating a 鈥渢rigger for bullying.鈥�

The decision triggered international outrage, and now 鈥� hopefully 鈥� some reasonable discussion about how a show about friendly ponies could possibly become such a cultural firestorm.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a complete misunderstanding of the fandom of 鈥楳y Little Pony,鈥� 鈥� says Mike Bernstein, the creator of Everfree.net, a popular website for "" (the term used to define boys and men who like "My Little Pony." 鈥淣erd culture is becoming more accepted. This is part of the bigger trend in society.鈥澨�

Mr. Bernstein's website hosts 15 live radio and video shows a week for fans ages 15 to 25.

To see how that fandom translated into dollars, I called Hasbro this morning and was sent an e-mail statement telling me that the 鈥淢y Little Pony鈥� blueprint, including TV, movies, toys, and wearable items听鈥渞epresents approximately $650 million dollars at retail,鈥� since the brand re-launched in 2010.听

That figure doesn鈥檛 include sales catering specifically to Bronies by other licensed retailers, such as听, which caters to an estimated 2 million Brony customers with spin-off products such as T-shirts, according to Bernstein.听

鈥淭he My Little Pony brand and the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic series has always been about friendship, acceptance and inclusion,鈥� a spokesperson for听Hasbro wrote in an e-mail about the bullying happening to some fans. 鈥淥ur pony characters and socially relevant friendship messages in our storytelling have resonated globally because our core cast of ponies all have uniquely defined characteristics and personalities that fans of all ages can relate to. We believe everyone should be treated equally regardless of how they choose to express themselves.鈥�

When it comes to the bullying of Grayson, Bernstein says he鈥檚 reaching out to Grayson鈥檚 mom, 鈥渋n the hopes of letting them know that there are lots of fans out there and that the bullying pretty much stops when you get into high school, where it鈥檚 considered a novelty and cool.鈥�

However, after my son Quin, 10, spent all last year being bullied over telling a girl that he liked the character Rainbow Dash from "My Little Pony," I can say with authority that high school is too far off for kids like Grayson and Quin to pin their hopes on.

That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 looking into this cultural miasma today, and hoping to get haters over the issue.

We need to put the elephant in the room out to pasture by saying, not everything involving a rainbow is automatically a statement of听sexual orientation.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just such an easy cultural stereotype to make,鈥� Bernstein says. 鈥淭he cheap logic jump is that any show marketed to girls is 鈥榝eminine.鈥� A 鈥榝eminine show鈥� which interests male viewers [can cause] leaps in logic to 鈥榖oys who like feminine shows are effeminate.鈥� It鈥檚 absurd.鈥�

To dismantle the stereotypes behind My Little Pony fans, I conducted by psychology professors at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., led by Dr. Patrick Edwards.

The 2013 study of 2,500 My Little Pony fans revealed that 32 percent were openly social about liking the show, while 18 percent preferred to hide their fandom. Of those surveyed 30 percent were a mixture, sometimes hiding their liking for the show and sometimes choosing to reveal their preferences depending on the social setting.听

I also e-mailed Common Sense Media鈥檚 parenting content editor Caroline Knorr for her views on what鈥檚 happening, because her group offers tips on .听听

鈥淢any kids go through a phase of really loving certain media characters 鈥� whether or not they are considered 鈥榞ender appropriate,鈥� 鈥� Ms. Knorr says in her e-mail back. 鈥淗elping the school community to understand that would help the kid instead of making him feel guilty or like he has to 鈥榮neak鈥� what he likes.鈥�

Knorr also suggested that schools might consider creating a social time. 鈥淲hat a lot of schools do in that case," she says, "is designate a particular media time like a Friday afternoon after the work is all done when kids can show and tell what they like without judgment.鈥�

The Brony study findings seem to support Knorr鈥檚 suggestion, with the conclusion that positive reactions to the "My Little Pony" fandom are influenced by the more a person knows about the show, via pre-exposure and through the use humor in more positive (pro-social) way.

After going through a year of sadness and frustration watching my own son be bullied for liking a blue pony with a rainbow mane, I am eager to find a path to resolution.

Grayson鈥檚 mom and I have been chatting back and forth on Facebook and she tells me his favorite pony is Fluttershy.

I can see the appeal, since one of the on "My Little Pony" is one in which the painfully shy, soft-spoken, pink pony sees a massive dragon attacking her pals. Fluttershy stands up to the bully.

However, when she sees the bully meltdown, the pony soothes the bully saying, 鈥淭here, there. No need to cry. You鈥檙e not a bad dragon. You just made a bad decision.鈥澨�听

We need to stop horsing-around and help kids make better decisions by broadening their horizons and teaching them to be part of the solution by helping dismiss invalid stereotypes.